Aches and Pains
by Yami Mori
Summary: Oneshot:Ritsuka is having a hard time falling asleep one cold winter night and Soubi desides that perhaps a story is in order. RitsukaSoubi


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Loveless in any way, shape, or form, although if I did …yeah. Anyway, I don't have a beta and if there are typo's, please bare with me, I did my best. So enjoy and drop a review!

Ritsuka frowned in the dark of his room as he rolled over and snuggled deeper into his comforter. It was snowing outside, and that would have been completely fine with him if it wasn't the coldest night of the season. On nights like these, the very cores of his shins ached uncomfortably.

Thoughts about going downstairs to get some medicine nagged at his mind, but he knew his mother was still up. If she saw him reaching for some Tylenol, who knew what she would do? So he went back to his original plan; keeping his legs bundled up and as warm as possible.

His eyes were heavy and he was tired, Yuiko and Yayoi had kept him active outside playing with the snow, but the constant ache in his legs refused to let up. Ritsuka sighed.

Soubi hadn't come to pick him up today and, at first, he had felt a little concerned. Soubi was usually always there waiting at the gate, even when Ritsuka didn't want him to be, and the absence of the blond hadn't gone unnoticed. It hadn't taken him too long after, though, for him to remember that Soubi had had an exam today that was supposed to last a while. So, a little disappointed, he relaxed even if he had been looking forward to spending the day out with his masochistic fighter.

Ritsuka rolled over again and closed his eyes. Maybe if he was really quiet he could sneak past his mother and get some medicine ….

The sliding sound of the balcony window caused Ritsuka to jump and his violet eyes to pop open. After a long agonizing moment, a tall blond man stepped around the moon bathed curtains.

"Soubi! What are you doing here?" exclaimed the boy as he sat up in the dark. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" The lamp was just out of his reach, seeing as how he didn't want to remove his leg from its warmish cocoon, so the only light that he could see the blond with was the moon light that came through his open window.

"I came to see you," the blond replied with a happy smile as he shut the door behind him, pulling the curtains to the side and allowing more light to shine into the room and just enough to bathe the raven haired boy in it. It didn't take long for the observant boy to see the snow on Soubi's shoulders and hair.

"Alright, just take your shoes off over there and leave your coat and stuff on the chair. I don't want you to get the floor wet."

Soubi readily complied and it wasn't long before the blond was sitting next to him on the bed. A small amount of missed snow fell from Soubi's hair and onto Ritsuka's arm, causing him to flinch and shiver.

"It's freezing tonight Soubi! Why did you come in this weather? You could catch a cold or something," said the boy as he tugged one of the layers of his blankets off of him and onto the man.

Soubi smiled.

"I wanted to spend some time with you. I could have been there to pick you up today if my group had gotten their work done sooner, but Kio managed to … extend it out as long as he possibly could."

"Kio, huh?" muttered Ritsuka and he found himself a little agitated with Soubi's friend. It sounded like Kio was trying to stall his fighter from seeing him sooner.

"Yes, but after he took a few 'hints' I was giving him, he quickly finished." The older mans eyes shined at the mention of the word 'hints' and the violet eyed boy found himself almost asking him about it. He managed to stop himself, though. He figured he didn't really want to know.

"So, why are you in bed so early, Ritsuka?" asked Soubi as he leaned forward a little, causing the boy to snuggle under his covers again.

"It's not that early."

"It's just past nine. Way too early for you."

"And how do you know that?" questioned the boy stubbornly as Soubi reached to touch his silky hair and shrugged.

"I just know that you don't have much endurance to last much longer than ten thirty, but you never go to bed earlier than ten."

"Well I'm tired today," replied Ritsuka a little defensively. "I spent the afternoon with Yuiko and Yayoi out in the snow."

"Was it fun?" his fighter asked and his hand touched Ritsuka's soft silky ears causing a shiver to race up Ritsuka's back.

"Your hands are freezing, Soubi!" Ritsuka pulled the older mans hands from his ears, then trapped them between his two small ones.

Soubi's hands were big, and cold to the point that Ritsuka was afraid that they might catch frost bite. Now that Ritsuka looked, Soubi, in general, looked cold. His shoulders were shaking a little and he had his knees pulled up tightly against his chest. Yet, he seemed to be enjoying it a little.

"Masochist," breathed Ritsuka as he heaved himself and his hoard of blankets up so that he could drape himself over the older mans shoulders. Then he wrapped his arms around Soubi's shoulders and sat there.

As he had expected, Soubi was freezing. It was as if he hadn't worn a coat and scarf when he decided to come and see him at all.

Soubi hadn't said a word about this recent development, but Ritsuka knew that he was enjoying it. His back was relaxing and the shaking of his shoulders had stopped and once Ritsuka had finally made his way through the initial cold of the blonds back, he found that Soubi was a very nice heat source. So much so that the violet eyed boy was sure he was going to fall asleep right there.

But that stupid ache in his leg! It refused to give him any peace, even when he felt so comfortable and warm.

"Is something the matter, Ritsuka?"

Ritsuka nearly jolted at the soft sound of Soubi's voice. He hadn't realized that he, himself, had actually begun to relax so much as well.

"Nothing, just my legs."

"Is something wrong with them?" he asked, truly curious about the safety of his sacrifice.

"It's nothing, Soubi. My legs just ache on cold nights like these."

"Why don't you just take some medicine?"

Ritsuka sighed and gently pushed himself off of his fighter so that he could better look at Soubi.

"Because it's downstairs … with my mother."

He could almost see Soubi's blue eyes change from slightly worried, to annoyed and borderline angry. He lifted his hand to touch Ritsuka's face, the boy noting that his fighters hand was much warmer now, and gently ran his thumb over the boy's cheek.

"Ritsuka, I could take care of her for you, make it to where you wouldn't have to fear going downstairs for a thing as simple as medicine."

Ritsuka jerked his head away from Soubi's soft fingers, a blush blazing across his cheeks.

"Leave my mother alone, Soubi. I don't need any Tylenol anyway. I just need to keep my legs warm. That's all."

"And how has that process been going?" inquired Soubi, his blue eyes almost white in the moonlight. Ritsuka looked at the ground.

"... not that well."

Suddenly, Soubi had whisked up the covers and was lying down next to Ritsuka, pulling the boy to his chest, more specifically entwining their legs together in an intricate, warm puzzle.

"What are you doing, Soubi!" exclaimed Ritsuka, more shocked that Soubi would do such a thing than mad.

"I'm keeping my Ritsuka warm," he said softly as Soubi moved his long legs closer to Ritsuka's. The blush that had once occupied the boys face now returned with a vengeance and for a solid minute, he gave Soubi a death glair. Then he sighed in defeat and let his head fall against the older mans shoulder.

Ritsuka had to admit, Soubi felt warm and good. The boy always felt safe with his fighter, like the world, other fighters, his mother would never be able to hurt him. Not to mention the ache in his legs were slowly fading. He snuggled closer into Soubi's chest and his fighter held him tightly.

But all of the heat that Soubi was lovingly giving off to him was making him drowsy and, considering it was Soubi he was with, he might fall asleep and wake up ear and tail-less.

That, needless to say, would be bad. Very bad.

"Are you asleep, Ritsuka?" Soubi had gone back to stroking his hair and gently petting his soft black cat ears. It felt so good.

"No," he mumbled, "I'm not."

"Are your legs still aching?"

"Just a little."

Soubi fell silent, but kept on sliding his fingers down Ritsukas' silly ears, nearly causing the boy to purr.

"Would you like me to tell you a story, Ritsuka?"

His eyes had drifted shut at some point, and the boy fought to open his drowsy violet orbs.

"What sort of story?"

"What sort of story would you like to hear?"

"I don't care," Ritsuka mumbled as he snuggled even closer into Soubi.

"Alright then," Soubi began, and the raven haired boy was sure he was smiling. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful young prince." The fighter paused for a moment, as if testing how the boy in his arms would react, and soon continued on with the impromptu story. "He lived in a small castle out in the middle of a large forest, trapped there waiting for someone to save him, but there was only one problem. There were only a few people who knew about this beautiful prince, and although these few loyal subjects wanted to rescue him, no one would dare because there was a field of poison filled thorns that surrounded his prison.

"But there was one person who wouldn't give up on the prince, and that was his most loyal and loving servant."

"I don't like the term 'servant'," the violet eyed boy cut in softly, and Soubi smiled down at his sacrifice.

"Alright. How about a guardian?"

"Sure."

"Guardian then," spoke the fighter as he continued his story, "His guardian vowed to save his prince from eternal solitude, to rescue him from his loneliness, and so he ventured into the forest to the wall of thorns. The guardian had dressed himself in a full suite of metal armor, praying that the plates would be strong enough to withstand the deadly acidic poison.

"The prince's guardian plunged into the thorns, making quick time through the deadly wall, but he soon began to smell something burn and realized that his armor was getting lighter. The poison was eating away at his only defense against the thorns and soon it would be completely gone.

"It was too late to turn back, but the valiant savior knew the armor wouldn't last much longer. He wasn't sure he would make it to his beloved prince, was afraid that he would get touched by a poisoned barb and die, never to see his dear prince again.

"But he persevered and kept on moving," exclaimed Soubi softly, getting into the tale, "and soon, he could see a light, a bright light. He ran hard, as hard as he could. His armor was nearly gone, but he was close, he wouldn't give up!"

"You're really getting into this," commented Ritsuka who had pulled away to look up at the older man. Soubi smiled at his sacrifice.

"Just wait, it gets better. The guardian finally made it through, reached the prison of his beloved prince, but just as he emerged from the wall of thorns, one small barb pricked his shoulder. He immediately felt dizzy and weak, heavy with the potent poison, but just as his eyes began seeing the tell-tale black of death, he saw him, his prince. He was beautiful, with raven black hair and deep violet eyes, eyes that conveyed the depth of the sorrow and pain of his endless solitude.

"The prince ran to his guardian, calling his name, telling him not to leave him alone again, but as much as the guardian wanted to obey his master's command, he couldn't and he could feel himself steadily slipping away." Soubi paused for effect, going for the dramatics, and slowly, softly, he began up again.

"Then soft lips covered his and, as if a sudden surge of life had entered his veins, he could feel himself rising towards life again, toward his master and his beautiful violet eyes."

Ritsuka's eyes had shut during the story, allowing himself to visualize it in his mind. He could see the desperate guardian fighting his way through the poisonous thorns, seeing his prince while he quickly began to die … as Soubi died. But when the guardian began coming back to life again, Ritsuka couldn't help the rise of happiness that rose in himself. The imprisoned prince wouldn't be alone anymore! He wouldn't be alone.

"The prince, in his grief, had kissed his guardian," Soubi continued as he began to gently stroke Ritsuka's silky black hair, "and in doing so had stopped the poison, and brought him back to life. And although there was no armor, and nothing to escape with from the castle, they were not sad that they couldn't leave. They rejoiced that they were not alone anymore and lived together happily ever after. The end."

The boy lifted a drowsy eye towards the man who was smiling gently.

"You made it up."

Soubi's eyes twinkled as he bent his head down to get closer to the boy.

"Was there something you didn't like about it?" he said quietly, gently as he rested his forehead against Ritsuka's.

The violet eyed boy blushed and looked away. "It was ok."

Soubi just continued to grin that same passive grin.

"Just ok, Ritsuka?"

The boys blush deepened as the older man said his name, lightly, teasingly, deeply, maybe even lovingly.

"Fine, it was good."

"Just good?"

"It was great, then!" the boy responded angrily, causing Soubi to chuckle. Suddenly the blonds lips were gently on Ritsuka's, kissing him. When Soubi pulled away he said quietly, "Really? I thought it was great too."

Ritsuka thought about glaring at the man, but he was warm, and he was tired and, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he had liked the story and it had relaxed him. In his groggy mind, even the kiss wasn't so bad. So he just sighed and snuggled closer to his fighter and wrapped his arms around him.

"Do you want me to stay, Ritsuka?" Soubi asked quietly as he pulled the boy closer to that he could rest his head against Ritsukas.

"It's too cold outside, and I don't want you to get a cold," mumbled the boy with a yawn, "So stay."

"Is that an order?"

"Yes. That's an order."

"Then as you command, my prince."


End file.
